After four months of laziness and inactivity that I kept justifying as necessary for my recovery from my hamstring injury, I put my foot down and got back to the gym.
All the way there I was searching through my mind for any excuse I could use to talk myself out of it. Alas, nothing came to mind and I found myself walking through the gym doors.
I headed straight upstairs for the treadmills. I stepped on two that appeared to be out of order, and I almost seized on that as my excuse to go home. However, as luck would have it, the third one I tried worked. I hopped on and began my cardio warm-up walking at 3 miles per hour on a 15% incline.
The chosen treadmill was up in the corner against the railing so I had an unobstructed view of the spectacle unfolding below. A myriad of attractive young women in short shorts and tight tops showing off their perfectly sculpted figures while milling about not breaking a sweat, but instead doing their best to attract the attention of any number of Hercules wannabe’s as the later went about demonstrating amazing feats of strength.
I spent the first 5 minutes on the treadmill observing and thinking about how much stamina, strength, and endurance I’d lost in four months of inactivity. I started wondering whether I was going to survive the workout. Ten minutes into it, I had already convinced myself it was going to be a short 15 minute warm-up and a quick run through the weights.
That’s when I saw her. Right across from me walking up the stairs was a woman about 5 years younger than me, about 6 inches shorter, who outweighed me by 40 or 50 pounds. She appeared to be working on her cardio warm-up which consisted of nothing more than laboriously walking up and down the stairs painfully slow and with frequent stops.
I was immediately embarrassed at what a baby I was being. Here I am, in relatively good shape, working harder at looking for excuses for not working out than actually working out. All the while, across from me, was a woman who struggled for breath with each step, doing what she needed to do with a courage and determination that I seemed to lack. Then, as if to underscore my shame, she limped to the front desk and met her personal trainer for a strength training session. With a smile on her face, she followed the trainer to one of the machines and began working out.
How pathetic are we who look for and find these excuses? I got angry at myself for having been such a wimp about my workout.
I stopped looking for excuses and drew on the woman’s courage to turn my warm-up into a 30 minute stint on the treadmill. I then headed downstairs and set out to work my upper body with more intensity than normal. I worked on all the same machines I normally use, but I increased the weight, added a third set instead of my normal two, and did each set until I couldn’t do the weight anymore.
As I was nearing the end of my strength training I noticed the woman finish her strength workout and proceed upstairs to the very treadmill I was on earlier and continue her workout.
I don’t know if I will ever see her at the gym again, but I can assure you I will think of her often. That woman who struggled to breathe with each movement, with the courage of a price fighter, and the determination of a champion will forever be on my mind when I go to the gym.
That apple shaped woman will forever keep me focused on my workout. I think the courage and determination I draw from her will be the apple I need to help keep my doctor away.
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